Kids at risk, says resident
A resident has raised concerns about kids safety coming and going from Garibaldi Highlands Elementary and Squamish council has asked staff to look into it.
On Tuesday council asked district staff to provide an answer to an email concern regarding a lack of parking enforcement near the school that could be putting children at risk.
Resident Lori Grant emailed the district to raise a concern about children having to compete with parked cars and traffic along Perth Avenue on their way to school.
Grant said the high number of cars parked on either side of the road during drop-off and pick-up times at Garibaldi Highlands Elementary was endangering students who walk or bike.
She suggested that in the short term, additional no parking signs should be placed on the side of the road, freeing up the shoulder for students to walk and bike in. In the long term, she said a sidewalk should be installed along Portree Way from the school to Perth Avenue to provide better protection.
“My concern for just adding signage is that a new sign will also be ignored,” wrote Grant.
Council agreed to refer the letter to Bylaw Enforcement and Engineering staff for a response to the suggestions.
A secondary motion was also passed on Tuesday to refer the larger issue of traffic control on residential streets to a committee for discussion at a later date.
Coun. Susan Chapelle said personally, she would support speed limits on residential streets being reduced to 30 km per hour.
“Our roads were designed for speed, and in the residential neighbourhood speeds are coming excessive.
People are doing 70 to 80 km on side streets. We’re going to have to address speed limits in our community,” she said.
“We have a highway if you want to go fast.”
Mayor Patricia Heintzman said there are many potential solutions to the pace of traffic on side streets, and the discussion at the committee will be “a broad conversation.”
Facelifts and additions
Two additions to local businesses on Queens Way are likely on the way, including major facelifts and new landscaping after council approved their plans on Tuesday.
Kal Tire, located at the corner of Industrial Way and Queens Way, was granted permission to combine two separate lots of land on the corner. The combined lot will allow a 3971 square foot two-storey addition to be added to the existing steel building.
“I think it’s great to enhance the site, it’s been sitting in it’s present condition since it was built, so it’s great to see it spruced up a bit,” said Coun. Peter Kent.
Kal Tire has also committed $37,328 to improving the landscaping in front of the business, which is currently mostly asphalt and a few small patches of grass.
The changes will include a new light post, shrubs and a tree.
Further down Queens Way inside the Sea to Sky Business Park, No Limits Motorsports will also be getting a facelift. The business’s current building was approved for a smaller 1,300 square foot addition.
The south-facing addition will include a new entrance and showroom with large glass windows. The whole building will be clad in ribbed metal siding painted black, with a column of cedar siding advertising product logos.
New landscaping, at a cost of $18,776, will include shrubs, grasses and flowers that will “provide a vibrant range of colours to the boulevard along Queens Way” according to the staff report.
The improvements were an easy sell to councillors and Mayor Patricia Heintzman, who said the updates to the area are exciting.
“This is easy to like, and it’s really exciting to see our local businesses expand,” said Coun. Karen Elliott.
